


To New Year's (and new beginnings)

by fanfics4you



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Hurt/Comfort, New Year's Eve, New Year's Kiss
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-02
Updated: 2018-05-02
Packaged: 2019-05-01 10:14:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14518260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fanfics4you/pseuds/fanfics4you
Summary: “One day, you’re going to figure it all out and you’ll be successful and we—“ Felicity started, “Would still be together.” Oliver finished. In which, Oliver Queen and Felicity Smoak go from friends to best friends to something more.





	To New Year's (and new beginnings)

**Author's Note:**

> Hi, okay!! So I've had this idea since New Year's and it's finally here and hopefully you all will like it! x 
> 
> This isn't betaed, so all mistakes are mine.
> 
> And I have no idea how, American high school work so hopefully I got it right!!
> 
> A special shoutout to my friend Basma, who made this amazing gif for fic and was super supportive throughout!
> 
> Happy reading xx

**_Saturday._ **

**_31 st December 2011._ **

**_Starling City._ **

 

Felicity is fifteen when her mother decided to drag her to the Queen’s New Year party. She had been reluctant about it, but her mother had been rather adamant so here they were.

She stepped inside the mansion, her eyes widening as she stared at the beautiful interior. It still surprised her, how they had managed to get an invite to this place. The two of them had shifted to Starling only recently and apparently, her mother had met Mrs. Queen and eventually the two of them had talked about how she was new to town and how their kids go to the same school—Felicity already knew of this, because who doesn’t know _Oliver Queen?_ –and it had led them to getting invited to this party. Apparently, the Queen’s Christmas party was a tradition but this year, they had thrown a New Year one instead for reasons unknown to her—not that she cared, she didn’t know them or celebrated Christmas anyway.

She looked around, biting her lip as she tried to look for a familiar face. Not that it mattered, they didn’t know her anyway. She didn’t expect them to either, it had only been a couple of days and she always managed to hide within the crowds, she never really had school friends before so she didn’t expect this time to be any different.

She snapped out of her zone, when she heard a voice and smiled almost instantly, realising that they were in front of the host couple, “Felicity,” She heard Moira Queen say and she nodded her head, “Your mom told me a lot about you.”

“All good things I hope,” Felicity tried to laugh, ignoring her nervousness, “Thank you for inviting us, Mrs. Queen.” She continued, still surprised by the grandeur of the place.

“Of course,” Moira shared a look with her mother, “How could I not? Especially after I heard how brilliant you are,” She tilted her head to the side, “You are in the same grade as my son, right?”

“Yes,” Felicity nodded her head, “You must be looking for them then.” And before Felicity could shake her head, telling her no, she had already called out for Oliver.

She saw him making his way towards them and sirens went off in her head, her eyes widening a little.

Oliver Queen did _not_ know her.

“You know Felicity,” Moira stated like a _fact_ , the second Oliver reached them and Felicity had to give her brownie points because she was being an amazing host but really, he probably didn’t—

“Yeah,” He nodded and she frowned, “We have history and math together.”

And Felicity’s mouth parted open in surprise because Oliver Queen actually knew her, “Why don’t you show her around?”

“Sure,” He said, looking at her expectantly and it was then Felicity noticed how blue his eyes really were. He looked good in the shirt he had adorned, his sleeves rolled up and really, _of course_ he was popular, which brought her back to reality because of course he wouldn’t know her but—

“So, Felicity,” Oliver stepped right beside her as the two of them began to walk and Felicity couldn’t help but murmur, “You know me?”

“Of course,” Oliver laughed and Felicity’s cheeks reddened a little, “I’m pretty sure the entire school does.”

“Wait, how?”

“Well,” He started, “You are the smartest person in every class,” He stated that as an obvious fact, and Felicity raised her eyebrows, nodding her head a little as if satisfied with the explanation.

“Plus, I kind of keep an eye out for pretty girls,” He said, his boyish charm kicking in and Felicity’s shoulders sagged, her cheeks turning crimson, “Right.” She murmured, tucking a dark lock behind her hair.

She could see why girls swooned after him.

“Come on,” Oliver smiled, “I’ll introduce you to the others.” And Felicity nodded her head.

Okay, she definitely did _not_ expect this. She certainly, didn’t expect him to actually know her—know her name, let alone hanging around with his friends.

So, when the clock struck twelve, her mother was not the only she ended up wishing Happy New Year, they were a lot other people who wished her so— _friends_ —is that what they were now, friends? She frowned a little, thinking to herself.

_Maybe_ , she found herself thinking as she stared at Oliver who was standing with his family, right in the middle of the room.

Maybe this time things would be different.

…

**_Monday._ **

**_31 st December 2012._ **

**_Starling City._ **

****

“You see that one?” And Felicity’s eyebrow rose as she tried to locate the girl Tommy was pointing at, amidst the dancing crowd, “I’m going to kiss her at midnight and maybe even take her home.” He nodded to himself as he slipped the latter half out as an afterthought.

She rolled her eyes, “Of course you are.”

“Hey,” Tommy protested, raising the red cup he was holding in the air, “We should start this new year with a bang, okay.” He leaned down a little, slightly tipsy as he winked at Sara, “Literally.” The blonde merely let out a breathy laugh, sharing a look with Felicity.

“And what about you, Oliver?” She asked as the man popped up, throwing his arm around Felicity’s shoulders, “What about me?” He frowned, not realising what was the topic of discussion.

“Thinking about starting this New Year with a bang?” Felicity grinned at that and Oliver raised his hand in the air, adjusting his collar a little which she noticed, had a lipstick stain on it, his shirt dishevelled, “Oh honey, I am way ahead of you.” He told her, his tone slightly cocky causing Felicity to jam her elbow right in his stomach, “Ow, Felicity!”  

“Well, what are you doing here now?” Sara asked, her arms crossed and Oliver rubbed the lower half of his torso, “Well, she is in the washroom right now.” Oliver jabbed a thumb behind his back, trying to point at it, “And I thought I should at least say goodbye before I leave.” He added as an afterthought.

“Yeah man, get the girl!” Tommy cheered, raising his fist in the air and Felicity shook her head.

Before they realised it, the music toned down and Felicity turned her head to the left, eyes landing on Oliver’s hand that was placed on her shoulder, trying to see the time in his watch.

One minute to go. Huh. She hadn’t even realised.  

She watched, Tommy walk away from them and she was sure he was heading towards the blonde he had pointed out minutes ago.

As if on cue, Max Fuller—who Felicity realised was the host of the party stood on one the tables, raising his glass in the air, causing the crowd to let out a loud cheer.

“Oliver!” They heard a girl shout and all of them turned their head, only to see a blonde standing behind them, hands on her hips and Felicity assumed it was the girl who Oliver had planned to hook up with. Felicity realised she didn’t know her name either—wait, were these people even from her school or?

Oliver removed his arm and slowly and Felicity looked up, “New Year’s kiss is a must, you know?” He shared and she let out a small laugh, shaking her head. He took a step back and Felicity realized that the blonde had edged closer to the group.

She shared a look with Sara as people finally began to countdown, the crowd gearing and suddenly there was a huge roar full of cheers as the clock finally struck twelve.

“Happy New Year!” She said out loud, hugging Sara, a bright smile on her face and she echoed the same back. Her peripheral vision caught Oliver kissing that girl and she was pretty sure Tommy was doing the same with another girl, a few steps away.

She pulled away, the crowd cheering yet again as the music kicked in for the second time that night. She narrowed her eyes in the direction Tommy had went in, taking a step forward towards the crowd—

When a hand grabbed hers and pulled her back a little. She turned her head, eyes landing on the set of hands first before looking up only to see it was Oliver, “Hey,” He whispered, his expression softer than before.

“Hey,” Felicity laughed realising the lady was gone, “Happy New Year.” Oliver told her, his head titling a little.

“Happy New Year.” She wished him back before stepping forward and finally wrapping her arms around him, her head close to his shoulder. She felt Oliver’s shoulders sag a little and almost closed her eyes.

It had been a year since the two of them—since all of them met, honestly. A small part of her had thought maybe she had been naïve to even think that they would become friends with her just after meeting her once, but she had been wrong.

They did wind up becoming friends, Felicity Smoak had _friends._

Oliver slowly pulled away, pulling Sara in a one armed hug, he didn’t even ask where Tommy was—it’s like everyone was aware of his whereabouts, “I gotta go.”

Felicity narrowed her eyes a little, “I kind of am taking her out right now.” He shot her a sheepish smile and she shook her head, “Of course.”

Oliver winked in her direction, “Bye Sara!” He said and the woman in question, tilted her head in Felicity’s direction, watching their friend leave, “How long until at least _one_ of them catches an STD?”

Felicity burst into laughter.

She felt a little hopeful, especially considering how last year went. Maybe this one won’t be bad either.

….

**_Tuesday._ **

**_31 st December 2013._ **

**_Starling City._ **

Felicity Smoak was _not_ drunk.

She shook her head, as if trying to make herself believe the fact, murmuring out a small ‘Whoa’ as her head began to spin.

Okay, maybe she was slightly tipsy.

To be fair, she had every right to be tipsy. It’s because she was _tensed._ Super tensed, because a part of her was still afraid that she won’t make it to MIT—her dream college.

 God, this is why she hated senior year. While she was aware she was smart—extremely smart, she wondered—she pouted her lip a little, deep in thought—if she was MIT smart?

“Felicity,” She heard someone say and seconds later, she found Oliver sitting on one of the stools, right beside her.

“Oliver!” She grinned, “Hi.” She whispered, tilting her head a little, her voice meek and Oliver thought she was absolutely adorable, a smile pulling at the corner of his mouth.

 “I’ll take that,” He said, ripping the red cup away from her hands and Felicity vigorously nodded, agreeing with him, only to let out a groan when her headache became worse.

Note to self, do _not_ nod.

“What happened?” He asked, his voice soft, edging a little closer to the brunette who had head down, her arms shielding her from the rest of the world, “I’m worried,” Felicity answered genuinely, her head still down against the kitchen slab, her voice muffled. 

Oliver’s hand moved a little closer to her head, and Felicity turned, her head still down but her gaze fixed on him this time, “About?”

“What if I don’t make it to MIT, Oliver?” She asked, suddenly jerking upwards, “Or any other university I’ve applied at.” Her eyes widened at the suddenly realisation and she let out a dramatic gasp, “What if nobody accepts me?”

“Of course, they will. You’re the smartest person I’ve ever known, Felicity.”

And Felicity let out a huff, “True.” She agreed, her shoulders sagging a little and Oliver shook his head in amusement, “But am I MIT smart?” She pouted.

“You are.” Oliver assured her, reaching for her hand and giving it a gentle squeeze.

“Sometimes I think I will make it to MIT,” She grinned a little at that, “But then I think I won’t.” She began to shake her head but stopped, realising it is going to hurt, “But then I think what if I make it but it’s without a scholarship?” She bit her lip at that, “Which sounds bad because I’ll be—I’ll be,” She stuttered a little, “getting more than what other people do, you know? But then would it matter? I won’t be able to pay for it—even though I have money! Some of it,” She nodded her head slowly, aware doing otherwise would cause her a headache and then fully turned towards Oliver, her body facing him, “But will it be enough?”

Oliver let out a sigh. He can count the number of times Felicity had allowed herself to be vulnerable before them on a single hand. She had always tried to be so strong but he knew they were a lot of things going on in that mind of hers and this happened to one of them.

He knew she was worried— _school can change my life, Oliver—_ she had wanted better for herself and for her mother. It was in complete contrast with his own self, a man who was getting it all served on a silver platter, all he had to do was choose.

“It’ll be worse you know,” He snapped back to reality, “If I have it and it slips through my fingers.” She murmured softly, opening her palm and closing it as if trying to show him what she meant and Oliver finally reacted, reaching forward to cup the right side of her face with his free hand.

He stared in those shining blue eyes he saw every day, blues eyes that were filled with doubt right now, “Hey, you are going to go to MIT, okay?” He said, his voice utterly soft and Felicity slowly nodded her head, let out a small sigh.

She reached up, her hand landing on the right side of her face, right above his, “What about you?”

Oliver stiffened, “What about me?”

“You don’t want to go to an Ivy League school, do you?” Felicity whispered and Oliver’s shoulders sagged, “I-“ He started, unsure of what to say.

Everyone—well his friends knew how much he hated the idea of it. He still didn’t know what he wanted—was it Business he wanted to pursue? How fucked up was he? He still didn’t have his life together.

While nobody exclusively had this conversation with him, everybody knew. Felicity had been around every time he had started to talk about colleges—her hand on his shoulder, making him feel like it was _okay._

It was okay to not know where he wanted to go.

His dad had given him a list of schools to choose from, because that is what life is like when you are rich. All he had to do was pick a school and he was ready to go, life for him was easy.

But was it really?

All of this shouldn’t really be given to him, it’s Felicity who deserves—Felicity who works so hard at _everything_ , Felicity who makes sure his grades were good by tutoring him day and night.

She deserved the world.

He didn’t.

“I-I don’t know.” He murmured and Felicity leaned her head to the right, placing it over his palm, her hold on his hand tightening, “That’s okay.” She said, “Not knowing is okay.”

And suddenly, the tension dissipated.

_That’s okay._

His shoulders sagged, a small smile pulled at the corner of his mouth.

How did she always manage to make him feel better was beyond him.

Felicity suddenly moved their hands from her face and placed it on the side of his face, her fingers interlocking tightly with his and Oliver suddenly realised she was still drunk, “Listen to our heart, you know.” She said, releasing her other hand from his grasp and tapped his chest for a split second—the _right_ side, “Listen to your heart, it’s always going to guide you in the right direction.”

He removed their hands from his face and placed them on the left side of his chest this time, her hand right above his, “Heart.” He mumbled just to amuse her.

“Yeah.” Felicity nodded her head, closing her eyes a little, a soft smile on her face and suddenly she was leaning forward, this time cushioning her head on Oliver’s chest. Her hand still where it was, her hold tightening a little if that was even possible.

“Hey, Oliver!” He heard only to find Tommy staring at him and the realisation that they were at a frat party dawned on him suddenly, he shook his head, “What?”

“McKenna’s been looking for you all over, man.” He jabbed a finger behind him, “I thought you might be getting lucky tonight.” He said, walking closer to him.

“Nah, I’m good here.” Oliver said, his eyes looking at Felicity who was snoring softly. He turned to Tommy, watching a small smile crawl on his face as he rubbed his index finger against the side of his head, “Right.” He nodded, somewhat knowingly.

“I’ll be right outside.” He gestured towards the dancing crowd and Oliver nodded. “Take care of her.”

“I will.” He told him, and Tommy finally walked away.

Oliver didn’t really realise how long it had been, he had managed to removed his hand from underneath Felicity’s and had wrapped both of them around her, a sigh escaping his lips.

Soon, he heard the music toning down and the people who were in the kitchen, made their way towards the living room. He had only tightened his hold on Felicity when that happened—it seemed a little uncomfortable but honestly, he wasn’t.

“Happy New Year,” He whispered softly once the clock struck twelve, as he dropped a soft kiss on the top of her head and Felicity let out a small content sigh.

_Listen to your heart, it’s always going to guide you in the right direction._

He let out a deep breath, knowing what his heart wanted.

What he wanted was seeing those blue eyes daily, what he wanted was his best friend at his side. He couldn’t imagine all of this without her.

Felicity Smoak was going to go to MIT.

And Oliver Queen had chosen.

He was going to go to Harvard.

Just a couple of minutes away from MIT.

So, yeah. He had no idea what this year is going to bring. If anything, it didn’t really seem promising considering he had no fucking clue what he wanted to do with his life and now was the time to decide. 

Adulthood is _hard._

But he had Felicity by his side—his gaze never left her—it all won’t be so bad after all.

….

**_Wednesday_ **

**_31 st December 2014._ **

**_Starling City._ **

 

"Okay, time to spin it again.” Thea cheered, spinning the bottle that was right in the centre of the group.

Felicity narrowed her eyes at the bottle before her focus shifted, landing on Tommy instead whose head kept edging closer to the bottle, as if to see it’s movement—a clear sign that he was tipsy—and she huffed out a chuckle, biting her bottom lip.

Not that she blamed him. While Tommy always was the most laid back out of all of them, tonight he had managed to drink a lot and despite a lot of people telling him not to, he didn’t listen. He didn’t exactly reveal why but Felicity had a feeling it had to do with the man Laurel had brought as her date tonight. She shook her head, sharing a glance with Oliver who smiled softly in her direction, as if well aware of what she was thinking about.

“Aha!” Felicity heard Thea say and she looked up, realizing that the bottle had stopped spinning and was now pointing in Oliver’s direction.

She watched his eyebrow rise as if contemplating before he said it, “Dare.”

She swore she saw Thea’s eyes gleam. The brunette looked at Sara who was sitting right beside Roy and she could swear, the smile on Sara’s face was pure _evil._

“We dare you to kiss Felicity.”

Felicity’s eyes widened, “What?”

“We?” Oliver questioned instead and Thea nodded, “We.” Sara finally joined the conversation and even Laurel let out a small hmm making her realize that everybody was in this.

“Yes!” Tommy cheered, “It’s so frustrating to watch the two of you.” And Felicity was surprised he managed to make everything sound clear, “Just kiss and make up already!” The octave of his voice rose all of a sudden.

“No.” Felicity finally found her voice, “We are not doing this.”

Oh, they were so _not_ doing this. Felicity was aware about all of this—they had always teased the two of them and she had always managed to ignore them, it only got worse when she joined MIT and he joined Harvard. It was honestly quite nice up there, and Oliver being there made things so much better.

So much better.

Okay, maybe she had a _tiny_ crush on him. She didn’t know how it started, but she did—a small tiny one though—

A small breath escaped her lips. Now they were back home, it made things worse because all the shit her friends had been spewing all this time had actually begun to make sense and that was a sign of an apocalypse.

She hated that it made her – _think_ – about them like that.

Before she could think about it further, Oliver was sitting before and her blue eyes widened, her lips slightly parting open in surprise, “Oh.”

“Yeah.” He grinned a little and Felicity looked down at the crowd, her fingers playing with one another, a sheer parody of Oliver’s habit, “You can say no if you want to, alright? It’s not about the game.”

“Of course, it’s not about the game.” She heard Sara chime in and Felicity tried to look past Oliver, wanting to glare at her.

“You’ll thank us on your wedding day.” Tommy cheered, raising the cup and Oliver let out a huffed chuckle at that one, “He’s just being an idiot.”

Felicity bit her lip, “Yeah, he is.”

Slowly, he inched closer to her and Felicity let out a sigh she didn’t know she had been holding. Her eyes snapped shut on its own accord and she felt herself inching forward before their lips met one another.

The kiss didn’t last that long (Later, Oliver tells everyone how it never specified a time period much to their chagrin), it was like the barest of whispers. His lips were on her and her hand clutched his bicep, wanting to hold on to him—it still had managed to take her breath away, still had managed to  her stomach flutter with butterflies. For one brief second, Felicity actually felt _giddy_ –like she couldn’t stop smiling, like she couldn’t open her eyes because then, the moment would break.

And then she did.

She stared right into those blue eyes, her heart thudding beneath her chest, a soft smile on her lips.

(Later, she’d find herself wishing for the night to end right here. For _that_ to be their beginning—beginning of the new year, beginning of something new.

Of them.

But that isn’t how the night had ended. )

Tommy had managed to get drunk (surprise, surprise) grabbing everyone’s attention and it had…escalated.

 It had been a momentary distraction but Felicity still had to step out, because she wanted to think and make sense of it.

She wanted to just think about everything that had happened and wanted to make sense of it. She wanted to understand.

It was _just_ a crush, wasn’t it?

Nothing more.

“Penny for your thoughts?” She heard a voice and turned her head to the right, a small smile playing on her lips, “Hey.”

“Hey.” Oliver tilted his head a little, his hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans.

“What are you doing here?” He asked.

“Thinking.” Felicity pouted for a second, tilting her head to the side before turning around, her back against the handrail as her eyes fixated itself on the people who were inside the room.

“About?” Oliver prodded.

“Tonight.” She answered vaguely but truthfully and Oliver followed her line of sight, only to find his best friend on the receiving end, who was blabbering to Sara about something.

Maybe about how much he loved Laurel, because that is what he had done moments ago. That is how all of this blew out of proportion and Felicity actually felt sympathetic seeing his plight.

“Yeah.” She heard Oliver say, “He’s liked her since the very beginning, you know?” And Felicity let out a small hmm at that, “He just drank a lot and—and all of those feelings are out in the open.”

“Alcohol is the key to it all,” Felicity huffed out a small chuckle, “All feelings out in the open.” She muttered softly, turning to look at Oliver.

_What about your feelings?_

Oliver licked his lips, “Yeah.” He nodded, “Well, lucky for us we have never needed that.”

“No.” Felicity let out a small laugh, and suddenly the moment broke, “I guess not.” She looked down at the ground, shaking her head.

The moment _broke._

Oliver let out a small chuckle, shaking his head, “Listen, about tonight—“ He paused for a second, “They were just being—“

“Stupid.” Felicity finished the sentence, shaking her head as if trying to get rid of a thought, “Just how they always have been.” She rolled her eyes at that.

Oliver’s shoulders sagged a little as he looked down at the ground, “Yeah.” He licked his lips, hands tucked in the pocket of his jeans.

 “I mean,” Something died inside of Felicity as she spoke, “Talk about the unthinkable.” She said, her fingers rubbing her temple, “You and me, I mean.”

Oliver shot her a small smile but did not say a word.

_Well, lucky for us we have never needed that._

_Or did they?_

No, because most of the times Felicity had just _known._ She had known what he had been feeling and this one? This one she doesn’t.

Because there never was anything, because there never can be anything —it’s just those stupid dumb idiots getting into her head.

So, yeah. There was no new beginning. No new them. Not this time—not ever. And even though, it was just a _small_ crush that thought made her feel hollow on the inside.

A small part of her whispered— _why would he?_

But, she’ll get over it.

_Talk about the unthinkable. You and me, I mean._

Yeah, she will.

“Happy New Year!” She raised her arms in the air and Oliver leaned, hugging her tightly, his hands banded around her waist and she closed her head, letting out a sigh as she finally let herself relax.

This is what they are—friends. Best friends.

A small smile played on her lips despite everything, at least her inner turmoil had reached a conclusion.

So, yeah. All of this resolved into two things – that she indeed did have a crush, judging by the way her stomach dropped but also, how there was nothing that can go beyond it.

She’ll get over it.

“Happy New Year.” He whispered back, burying his head in the crook of her neck for mere seconds before she pulled away.

She looked at him and then shot him a small smile, “We should go inside.”

The night had ended a realization. That she was being stupid, that there is not them and it is a just a small crush that eventually would…go away.

He nodded, raising his arm in the air as if telling her to walk forward and she did. However, he didn’t.

He stayed rooted at his position, shaking his head as he watched her retreat. A sigh escaped his lips, his shoulder sagging as he finally began to smile. Shaking his head, he tried to get rid of the grin on his face, his hand rubbing the back of his neck.

“Oliver?”

“Right behind you!”

Maybe the night truly had ended with a realization.

…

**_Thursday._ **

**_31 st December 2015._ **

**_Cambridge._ **

 

Oliver felt her presence before he heard her. “I knew you would be here,” He heard her say and he almost rolled his eyes, turning his head to meet her gaze.

“I never for the life of me would understand why you come here,” Felicity wrinkled her nose and Oliver let out a small laugh, “Just because you are afraid of heights doesn’t mean everyone is, Felicity.” He shrugged, moving his legs a little which had nothing underneath them.

He was sitting on the ledge, staring down at the campus area, trying to be away from everything.

Felicity cleared her throat and he was aware of this proximity now.

Or so he had tried.

He turned his body around completely, his legs now an inch away from the floor and Felicity gave him a small nod, stepping closer to him—not exactly sitting on the ledge but standing against the small wall, staring up at him, “What are you doing here?”

Oliver stared at her, “I just wanted to be away.”

“From?”

“Everything?” A small hollow chuckle escaped his lips and he saw Felicity’s eyes twinkling with realization and she knew—of course she did, the last few months had made him quite obvious, “I can’t do this anymore, Felicity. I want to drop out.” He let out a defeated sigh as he finally admitted it out loud.

“I know,” Felicity whispered, her hand landing on his cheek, his eyes fluttering shut, his shoulders sagging as he finally breathed.

He knew she’d understand, she always did. That is what made Felicity—Felicity, she always managed to believe in him—how is still beyond him because he is one giant motherfucker but here they were.

Here they were.

He stared at her, her lips were curled forming a small smile. Her eyes shined with something akin to hope and reassurance

He didn’t know what to do or how to do—his father expected a lot. He expected him to get a business degree, to be someone but the truth is Oliver had no fucking clue who he was, he didn’t know what he wanted—

He was a giant screw up.

Yet, she believed in him, yet she was all okay with it      

_That’s okay. Not knowing is okay._

“Dad is going to be pissed.” He started, finally letting it out. She didn’t say a word so he chose to continue, “It’s not even about that—“He closed his eyes, “I really don’t know what I want. Dad wants me to take over the company someday and that’s not something, I want I—“

“Well maybe we can start from there,” Felicity said and Oliver frowned, “At least you know what you don’t want,” She elaborated, rubbing her thumb across his cheek, “It’s a start,” She raised her eyebrows, “Kind of eliminates a lot of options, you know?”

Oliver let out a huffed chuckle, his eyes lighting up, “That sounds like a good plan.” He whispered, his tone full of amusement.

“It is.” Felicity said, “You figured out you don’t want this, right?” She told him, her hand on his bicep, “It is start. Someday, you are going to figure out what your heart truly wants.” She tapped the left side of his chest.

“And what if you’re afraid you won’t ever find that? Or you’re afraid—when you do, it won’t be easy? That—that’ll you be just another failure?”

“Well,” Felicity looked down at the ground for a second before looking up at him. She reached forward and grabbed his hand and then pushed herself against the wall, sitting down on the ledge. Oliver’s eyes widened a little, his hold tightening as her eyes drifted downwards, realizing how high the building actually was.

“You overcome it.” Felicity said, her voice trembled and Oliver moved towards her, squeezing her hand, “I mean, we’re here together, aren’t we?” She finally gained her composure, looking at him, “We’ll overcome it.”

Okay, maybe she should have thought through because _heights_ are scary and was she stupid? What did Oliver see in this--

“One day, you’re going to figure it all out and you’ll be successful and we—“

“Would still be together.” Oliver cut Felicity off and her mouth parted open in surprise.

Okay, jumping on the ledge thing? _Totally worth it._

“Right.” She nodded her head, biting her lower lip, her eyes shining and Oliver could swear that his heart skipped a beat.

He stared at her and wondered if he should say it—wondered if he should tell her that her laugh brightened his days, how much he loved when she wrinkled her nose in disgust, or the when she pouted and tried to get herself out a situation—how much he _loved_ her.

He hadn’t even realized how it all started—perhaps, the very first time all of it clicked was when they had kissed. Precisely, one year ago.

Sometimes, he wondered what took him so long. How could he not fall for her? She was the one person—the one person who has always believed in him, the one person who looked at him with _expectation_ as he if could be something, as if he could do something.

As if he meant something to her.

He stared at her, his head tilted to the side, her eyes full of anticipation staring up at him.

Just then, the fireworks went off, marking the beginning of the New Year.

Oliver watched Felicity look up, a full blown smile tugging at her lips as she stared up, mesmerized. Her hold on his hand tightened and he watched the fireworks lighten up the dark sky.

He watched Felicity glow in that light.

“Felicity?” He called out for her and she looked down, tugging a purple lock behind her she let out a small sound, like a sing song.

It was the most beautiful sound in the world.

“…Happy New Year.” He whispered, his voice cracking at the end.

He watched her expression falter for the briefest of seconds before she grinned widely, “Happy New Year.”

The truth was, Oliver Queen was a failure.

Even though, she looked up at him with expectation—because that’s the beauty of Felicity—he wasn’t that. He desperately had wanted to believe in it, but he wasn’t.

He was leaving an Ivy League college behind, while she was destined for wonders. He let out a hollow chuckle. Slowly, he started to rub his thumb on the top of her hand.

“What?” Felicity asked, the light in her eyes dimming—maybe she was realizing it too, she eventually has to.

“Nothing.” He whispered.

Felicity deserved the world. She deserved so much better than him.

And he wasn’t that.                                              

He was never going to be that.

_We would still be together._

_Maybe not._

**…**

**_Saturday._ **

**_31 st December 2016._ **

**_Cambridge // Starling City._**

****

Felicity let out a sigh as she finally managed to walk past the entire crowd that was grooving to music—this year had certainly started on a bad note because she just realized how much she _despised_ frat parties.

She had attended a lot of them before, but it was with friends. She never really realized how the time had passed until today, here she was all alone—well, not really but she couldn’t spot Alena and Cooper was hanging out with his friends.

It made her miss Oliver more. He had decided to leave Harvard an year back, and Felicity realized how attached the two of them really were. They were always beside one another, until now. They were now miles apart and to be honest, it shouldn’t have been that hard considering her college is miles away from her home.

But it was.

Because it was Oliver.

A wry smile formed on her face as she shook her head. Taking her phone out, she decided to face time, knowing he must be waiting for her.

It’s New Year’s.

They were always together on the New Year’s.

Like she said, being away from him made her realize a lot of things.

“Hey,” A full blown smile formulated on her face as she saw him, because that’s the affect he had on her and Oliver grinned. Felicity’s eyes squinted for a miniscule second as she tried to make out his surroundings, eventually reaching the conclusion that it was Tommy’s house. She saw him moving away from the crowd, towards a secluded area before he turned towards her, his shoulders sagging a little and he finally allowed himself to relax, “Hey.”

Felicity blinked, the smile on her face only getting broader by the second. It had been a while since the two of them had actually video talked to one another, usually they stuck to messaging or phone calls—so yeah, suffice it to say she took a while to scrutinize his face, her eyes flickering from the dimple at the corner of his mouth, to his eyes and then finally realizing he was staring at her, his head tilted in a pure Oliver fashion.

She straightened up in a second, “Happy New Year!” Her voice rose a little at the end with excitement, realizing that this phone call was all it took to make her feel good about tonight.

“Happy New Year,” He whispered back and Felicity blinked, “So, I see you all are at Tommy’s?”

“Yeah, well the guy threw us a last minute party,” Oliver shrugged and Felicity made a mental note to talk to the others tomorrow, “And he is not drunk,” He told her and her eyebrows rose in surprise—maybe he was growing up after all—, “So, it’s not that bad.”

“Already sounds better than the previous ones,” Felicity let out a chuckle.

“How’s the frat party going?”

“Horrible,” Felicity’s voice was thick as she shook her head, “Wait, I thought you were going there with your friends?”

“I was…I mean I am,” She nodded, “But Alena went somewhere,” She raised her free hand in exaggeration, “And Cooper is somewhere with his friends and it’s way too crowded for my liking. Kind of makes me wonder how I ever survived going to frat parties with you all.”

“Right,” Oliver pressed his lips in a thin line as he gave her a sharp nod, “We didn’t usually leave you behind all alone.”

“Oliver.” Felicity said, her tone reprimanding, knowing what he was trying to imply. Suffice it to say, he wasn’t the biggest fan of Cooper, even though he had never actually met him in person.

“Anyways, how is the project turning out?” Oliver changed the topic, knowing that Felicity didn’t like the previous one. He wasn’t a very big fan of her boyfriend, even though they had seen each other a handful of times that too only on video calls—he wasn’t.

He just didn’t like his vibe and considering the fact that he chose to leave Felicity all alone, amidst strangers right now, he was right.

“Good.” Felicity nodded, “I kind of keep discovering new things I can pull off with it and it’s exciting,” She shot him a full blown smile, her free hand moving as she tried to explain the gist of it to him.

And Oliver melted. His steely resolve went away in a second, only to be replaced by a smile. God, he had missed her so much. This is why he preferred video calls than anything else. He gets to see her all giddy as she talked about her day, things that he had absolutely no clue about but can hear all day. He gets to see her biting her lip as she tried to recall it all, her laugh as he cracks a joke about he didn’t get any of it.

Yeah, he just loved---loved talking to her.

“What about you?” Felicity asked, “The club is going to open soon and—“ Her voice trailed off at the end, waiting for him to finish the sentence.

“I’ll be handling it.” Oliver said, “And then, probably try my hand at business,” He shrugged his shoulders, “If this works out, I mean.”

For a split second, Felicity’s expression faltered.

Sometimes she wondered what it would take him to see the man he has become, the man he had the potential to be—Oliver never considered himself to be good enough but the truth was, he was more than he ever gave himself credit for. She had always believed in this man, mainly because behind all this turmoil—she saw _him._ A man with a pure heart, who just wanted to make his dad proud. Who just wanted to figure out his destination but was lost.

And now, he was beginning to find himself but he still didn’t give himself much credit for it.

“What?” Oliver asked, noticing her staring at him and Felicity bit the bottom of her lip, knowing despite her telling him—she does that a lot, he wouldn’t get it, “Nothing.” She whispered, shaking her head, “I’m just proud of you.”

He looked down at the ground at that and Felicity knew he wasn’t used to this—maybe in the past, it was different but in the present he deserved every bit of it.

Felicity opened her mouth to say something when she was cut off, a woman’s voice echoing on the the other side and before she could figure out who it was, McKenna popped up on the other side, her arm interlinking with Oliver, “I’ve been looking for you!” She told him, her eyes on him before it drifted towards the mobile in his hand, “Oh hey, Felicity!”

Felicity was silent for a couple of seconds which was completely unlike her, but in her defence her eyes were transfixed on her arm that was interlinked with his. Her eyes then shifted to Oliver’s face, “…Hey,”

“Do you mind if I steal Oliver for a couple of minutes?” She looked at her and Felicity sighed, “Of course!” She said, her voice slightly high pitched.  She shook her head, raising her free hand to press the top of her head, her eyes snapping shut as she thought this through, “I mean, of course.” She licked her lips and let out a small laugh.

“I’ll—I’ll call you later?” It came out as a question and Felicity kicked herself mentally. Oliver shook his head, “It’s okay. Give us five minutes, Mc—“

“No, it’s okay,” Felicity stopped him, “Go ahead.” She tilted her head a little, towards McKenna, “I’m just surprised.”

“It’s nothing much. It just sort of happened tonight,” She gushed, her hold tightening as she leaned her head on his shoulder.

McKenna had always been interested in Oliver. But Oliver never really cared, except maybe a couple of hook ups that happened between them early on. Then Oliver went to Harvard and nothing could ever happen between the two of them. But now, he was back.

He was back.

And of course it was happening, Felicity didn’t even think about this. 

Not that she cared. She was happy for Oliver. He deserved someone to be there for him.

“That’s nice,” Felicity murmured, turning towards her friend with a look of question in her eyes and Oliver blinked hard, letting her know he is going to tell her tomorrow, “You two lovebirds have fun!” She raised her hand in air, “I’m going to go.” She jabbed a thumb behind her, pointing at the frat house.

“Felicity—“

“Good night, Oliver.” Felicity cut him off, “And McKenna.” She finished as an afterthought.

“Felicity,” He tried again, “What—“

“Nothing,” She shook her head, trying to smile as much as she can, “Enjoy.” She murmured instead, snapping her phone shut in the next second.

Felicity stared at the ground, her phone clutched tightly in her hands. A deep sigh escaped her lips as the she tapped her phone against the palm of her left hand, nervously.

“Felicity!” She looked up for the source of the voice, only to find her boyfriend standing at the threshold of the frat house, “Coming!” She nodded towards him.

She shook her head, walking towards him. Her mouth parted open a little in surprise as she recalled the words, she was about to say before she got cut off.

_I miss you._

Yes, she did.

She missed her best friend.

A best friend who was now dating someone else.

Or maybe not, Felicity didn’t even know honestly.

But she was happy for him. She was _really_ happy for him.

So, why did it feel like her heart just broke into a million pieces?

….

**_Sunday._ **

**_31 st December 2017._ **

**_Cambridge._ **

 

They say, the older you become, the harder it is for you step outdoors. You would rather relax in your room than interact with people. Well, guess what? Felicity Smoak had officially reached that phase.

Honestly, the last new year party should have been a sign. She despised that—actually, scratch that.

The fact that her so called boyfriend left her all alone in the said party should have been a sign.

_Cooper._

She recalled the name with a scowl, her hold on the spoon she was holding tightening as she practically attacked the ice cream tub she was holding. She wished it was his face instead.

Suffice it to say, this past year had been _terrible._ In hindsight, she should have known. The beginning itself was terrible. She remembered reading once, how the beginning marks it all. Well, guess what? It fucking sucked.

So, here she was.

Inside her dormitory, all alone with fucking _blonde_ hair. She just wanted a change. She had wanted to leave the old Felicity Smoak behind—the one who fell for a guy who never gave a damn about her. It was stupid of her really, she told herself she was never going to be dependent on a man.

But here she was, crying over a man.

A man she had opened up to, let her walls down (isn’t that why she carried herself the way she did?) She never wanted anyone to get too close to her.

For this exact reason.

But did it work— _did it work?_

It all started when Felicity managed to created a software that could hack into computers and retrieve all their personal information for a project. At first it was small. Cooper suggested upgrading it and Felicity was having a _lot_ of fun with it that she didn’t think it through.

What she didn’t realize was that Cooper had sneaked it behind her back, using it for his own malicious purposes until the FBI was at her door. It took her a couple of minutes to realize how the entire algorithm managed to be traced back to her instead of him.

Because, of course it did.

But Cooper forgot one part—Felicity had always been better than him at this. It didn’t take her long to redirect it all back to her _ex_ -boyfriend.

And now he was in jail, behind bars and Felicity…felt angry.

Logically, she knew it was his fault but she hated how blind she had become to him that she did not realize. She did not see this happening until it fucking did and it was already too late.

She let out a sigh she didn’t know she had been holding, dropping the spoon right in the tub. She leaned back against the couch, removing her glasses—they were sure as hell a lot more comfortable than those contacts—and rubbed her eyes, trying to get rid of the moisture in there.

God, she hated herself.

She heard the fireworks going off outside and let out a small hollow chuckle, shaking her head.

Times like these, well New Year’s reminded her of Oliver.

She hadn’t even realized until last year how the two of them _always_ managed to find their way to one another on this day. Somehow, he marked the beginning of an year for her. It’s stupid really, New Year’s didn’t mean a lot to her anyway.

He did.

The memories did. She was never the one to believe in myths or sayings, but him being around made her feel good. He had always been there. Even if it was for just a couple of minutes, away from everything. It’s like they knew they had to make time for each other.

A brief reminder that they would always be with one another.

And suddenly, the smile on her face dissolved. Realization hit her with full force as she realized Oliver wasn’t around. Not that she blamed him, she hadn’t exactly been talking to him a lot.

In fact all of them. It’s just that stupid part of her brain that always acknowledges Oliver as her first.

Not first, _first_ because yeah, nope. Not happening.

But he was her _first._

She brought her knees to her chest, cradling the ice cream on the top of it.

Sometimes, she wondered what it would have been like if he had been around.

But he wasn’t.

A knock on the door snapped her out of her thoughts and she frowned, her eyes landing on the digital clock on the front table for a second. Sighing to herself, she picked up the ice cream tub and placed it on the said table, beside the clock and got up.

She walked towards the front door, taking her glasses out for a split second as she cleaned them with the bottom half of her tank top before putting them on again.

She opened the door, expecting Alena to be on the other side only to be surprised. He was standing at the threshold, holding a tub of ice cream in his hands, “Oliver?”

He stood before, licking his lips as he looked at her and she knew he was seeing the change—the glasses and the hair, “Felicity.” He breathed out.

_God, he had missed her._

Felicity often told him about the way he said her name. She didn’t think he realized that, but there was always something about it. Sometimes it told her that he wanted to talk to her, sometimes it told her how grateful he was and sometimes, it was about how much he missed her.

_Felicity._

She tilted her to the side, licking her lips as she smiled slowly. Her eyes began to burn and she realized how much did she really miss him. It had been weeks since the two of them had talked.

Weeks since she had contacted him. What was she supposed to say? That the FBI showed up? That she was this close to losing everything? That he was right about Cooper?

“Happy New Year?” He grinned a little, the phrase coming out as a question and Felicity’s smile dropped for a second, a small laugh bubbling out of her chest as a lone tear escaped her eye,  “Happy New Year.”

“I got you ice cream,” Oliver raised the tub in the air, “We’re going to sit down,” He stepped inside, closing the door shut behind him, “And watch a couple of movies and are going to—“

And he didn’t care. He didn’t care that she had been pushing him away. He didn’t care that it had been weeks since she had heard him say her name.

_Felicity._

The tears she had been withholding back for _so long,_ finally broke through. Her shoulders begin to shake as small sobs racked her body. It was the first time she had finally allowed herself to break down like this and she hated— _hated it._ Wasn’t the whole appearance change a part of it? Wasn’t she supposed to be done with this?

Done with him.

She shut her eyes tightly in hope that she would finally be able to have some control. Because she wasn’t ready for this onslaught of emotions.

She wasn’t ready for him to show up.

Before she knew it, a set of arms banded around her and Felicity buried her face in his chest, her small sobs turning into big ones because she really she _couldn’t_ stop.  

She had finally tried to let someone in, and it blew up in her fucking face. It was _her_ software, she potentially could have lost everything. It could have been her who could have been behind those bars right now.

“I got you.” She heard him whisper and Felicity buried her face further in his chest if that possible, her glasses digging into her nose, her eyes shut as if trying to block everything and only focusing on him.

“Everything is going to be okay.” His head was lying on the top of her head, his arms rubbing her back.

_Everything is going to be okay._

She let out a shaky breath, her eyes opening and she could feel the tear drops on her lashes. She slowly turned her head to the right, the side of face still pressed to his chest, her sobs turning into whimpers, “Your shirt’s all wet now.” She whispered, her voice hoarse from all the crying.

His chest rumbled and Felicity smiled a little, finally feeling lighter. She could feel his fingers playing with her hair, “I’ll manage.” He told her, his voice soft as he dropped a small kiss on the top of her head.

Felicity let out a soft hmm, thankful that her sobs had finally died down before she pulled away a little, her glasses all foggy.

“You feeling better now?” Oliver asked and Felicity looked up, nodding her head, “Better.” She repeated and he brought his hands to her face, wiping away the tear tracts on her face.

“It’s been a long while since I have seen you in your glasses,” Oliver started and Felicity let out a small laugh, finally pulling away from him to clean her glasses, “Well, get used to it.” She told him, “It’s better this way anyway. If I had cried like that with my contacts on, it would have not—“ She shook her head rapidly, “Not been good.”

“It suits you a lot,” He whispered, his hand running through her blonde hair and Felicity bit her lip, “I figured I—“ She let out a deep breath, “Needed a change.”

Oliver smiled at her, his blue twinkling, “I like it.”

The blonde looked down at the ground for a second before looking right up and staring him. She tilted her head, shooting him a soft smile, “Thank you.” She said slowly after a beat, her blue eyes meeting his baby blues, as if wanting him to know how much she meant it.

Thank you for being there.

Thank you for not judging her.

Thank you for _everything._

Oliver let out a breathy laugh— _her favourite kind—_ and her smile widened. “I’m always going to be here, you know?” He told her instead, taking a step closer to her.

“Right.” She nodded her head, biting the bottom of her lip.

“Now, come on,” Oliver changed the topic, “I think the ice cream might have melted,” He looked down at the tub on the table, frowning as if trying to make out if it had melted or not, “And yours did too.” His eyes drifted to the tub she had been munching on earlier.

Felicity let out a full fledged laughter, “Don’t worry, it’ll be fine.”

“Yeah,” Suddenly, the air shifted and Oliver was looking at her like she meant his everything, his eyes shining with something akin to hope, “It will be.” He said, trying to reassure her.

_It will be._

Felicity couldn’t help but grin to herself a little.

She never realized how amidst the entire—don’t let people in---she had managed to let this person in. Someone who looked out for her, someone who always there for her.

And suddenly, Felicity was sure of it as well.

It will be okay.

He was by her side.

After all, he was her _first._

It had to be.

**…**

**_Monday._ **

**_31 st December 2018._ **

**_Starling City._ **

****

Felicity was going to do it tonight.

Yep, she was going to say it all tonight.

Because honestly, she was sick of it. She was sick of it all---it was New Year’s.

_New Year’s._

It had somehow become a special day because Felicity realized how the two of them always managed to spend it together, despite all the odds so yes, today was their day.

So, it made sense.

She knew.

Oh, she knew. They were more than friends, so much more than that. Last year, the two of them hadn’t left each other’s side at all. It became—worse—is the word Thea used, because they were back in each other’s vicinity.

And things changed, not that they weren’t that way before. For a genius, Felicity sure can be stupid at times but slowly, it had all dawned on her.

She was in love with Oliver Queen.

Yep, she loved her best friend. She didn’t know when it started. Maybe she was already in love with him when she did, because one day she just stopped _denying_ it. One day, she just let herself fall in his arms and just breathe and realize that all of this was real.

Even Digg saw it, and he met them like an year ago and that man was like _super_ wise, so really she knew better than to question Diggle’s opinion—they definitely had feelings for one another.

She looked past the guests, her eyes landing on the man who occupied her thoughts. She was standing on the balcony of the Queen Mansion, her back against the railing, her elbows on it for support.

She took a deep breath. It was time to confront it all.

She wondered when the lines between the two started to blur. There had been a time where she fooled herself into believing that there was nothing between the two—that she didn’t love him. She let out a small chuckle, or he didn’t love her—because he did, he did.

Last year made her realize all of that. It had been a life changer in multiple ways for the both of them, honestly. She had finally gotten herself together and had decided to start her own company. She had managed to get the support from the board of Directors from Queen Consolidated, so really it was a small matter of time before it all started.

And he had decided to go back to college. Not an Ivy league one, but he had decided to get a business degree. Venturing into the club business had made him realize that maybe he wasn’t bad at that. Although he had told his father he needed a lot of time.

And they—they had _changed._

Or maybe she had just started to realize how different they are, because she had.

The old Felicity Smoak had walls that she didn’t want to bring down. She hadn’t realized but she had let him in long before she let that one go.

A small part of her brain supplied that maybe she had started to realize that she was worth it. Or maybe, he needs to see that he was _too._

They were a lot closer than they were before, a lot more intimate than they were before. It’s like they were there—but they weren’t there.

Felicity was going to make sure they reach there tonight thought—her eyebrows furrowed, okay that didn’t make sense but it did _make sense_ okay. It did.

She thought about the first time it all started to make sense was when she cuddled with him, back in her dormitory, in his arms and suddenly everything dissolved.

There was no hesitation of their part despite the conundrum that had been happening inside of her. It just…made _sense._ Just like holding his hand, just like sighing with content in his arms.

Slowly, it had all dissolved away.

They were in a good place.

Maybe in some ways they had been together before they even realized it. Lines had started to blur way before—there was no demarcation to it.

But tonight, Felicity was going to draw a line. Today is the day she is going to let it all out in the open because she really wanted to kiss him and hold him and tell him he’s a fucking idiot for not doing this sooner but she loves him.

It was _New Year’s._

This day _demanded_ that.

She watched as he entered the room one more time, his eyes skimming past their friends who were there, only to land at her. His smile widened and she could see that adorable dimple of his and a genuine laugh bubbled out of her lips.

Lord, how different was this New Year’s than the last one—although to be fair, the last one did get better because of him.

_Oliver._

He made a beeline towards her, stopping right before the blonde.

“Hey,” He whispered and Felicity’s hand reached up, tugging his tie a little. A habit she had adopted this year. Her hand skimmed his chest and Oliver’s brow furrowed, as if aware she was in deep thought.

“Oliver,” Felicity looked up and a small breathy laugh escaped his lips, realizing he had been right, “You know it’s New Year’s, right?” She asked.

His eyebrow quirked in question.

“And we’re friends,” She started, looking at him, “Best Friends.” She nodded her head and gulped, “So,” She stuttered for a second, “Do you want to say something to me?”

“Say what?”

“See!” Felicity’s voice rose all of a sudden, “I knew it. You are an idiot,” She poked his chest, “You really don’t want to do anything about this?” She raised her index finger, moving it behind the two of them.

“About what?” And this time, Oliver _grinned_ as if he found this amusing.

Okay, this is not what Felicity expected. She narrowed her eyes, maybe she can murder him instead. That seemed like a good option, his smile infuriated her—he was not supposed to be smiling while she was really out here struggling.

Okay, Felicity was _not_ going to confess. She won’t be the first one to do so because really, she fell in love with him?

“You know what,” Felicity took a step back all of a sudden, “Let it be.” She raised her arms in exaggeration, “This is good.” She said, “Being best friends is good.”

“I mean, glad we had this all out in the open, you know?” She licked her lips, a small sly smile on her lips, “This means I can say yes to Ray because he has been asking me out since forever and I think I might say yes.”

Oliver’s smile widened if possible, she could see the dimple again but this time it annoyed her, “Okay.”

Did he find this funny? This was not funny. Felicity had a great sense of humour and she knew what was funny. This wasn't it. 

Her jaw dropped, “You’re really not going to do anything about this.” She narrowed her eyes, “You’re incorrigible, oh my god.” She let out a small unbelievable laugh, pressing her hand against the top of her head and walked a couple of steps away from Oliver, her back to him.

She immediately turned towards him, “We’re really going to do another year of we’re just friends, aren’t we?” Her voice became heavy, “It took me a year to realize that how we’re more than friends and now, we gotta do more of this dance?”

She looked down at the ground and then back up at him and he was still grinning and maybe if Felicity hadn’t been losing it, she would have seen the signs, “You know we were standing here when I realized that I might have feelings for you and you didn’t—oh god, what if I have all of this wrong?” She mumbled to herself as she blinked, playing with her hands.

It suddenly hit her and she flashed back to the time two of them had been standing right here, trying to have a similar conversation and oh, man is like really going to be this cruel?

She shook her head.

_No._

“But then you look at me like that,” She turned her head only to find Oliver staring at her, his eyes soft, his head tilted and—“Don’t look at me like that!” She pointed her finger at him, trying to be angry and he looked down at the ground in one second.

“We do this every time,” She shook her head, “You’ll look at me like that and I’ll ask what and you know what you’ll say?” She asked rhetorically, “You’ll say nothing. Like this doesn’t mean anything. What?—“

“I love you.”

“See! Nothing! We can’t do more of this dance, Ray is right th---“ She paused all of a sudden, hand mid air. Lines formed on her forehead as she frowned, stopping midway, her mouth parting open in surprise.

“What?” Her entire momentum had been lost, she was caught my surprise, her voice was meek.

“I love you.” His voice was confident, as if this was the one thing he’d always been sure of.

She was silent for a second as if contemplating everything that had just happened. He slowly walked towards her, his thumb caressing his fingers, his nervousness kicking in.

“I knew it.” Felicity said after a beat, raising her head a little higher and Oliver let out a full blown laugh, despite the butterflies in his stomach.

He looked at her. She was standing away from him, wearing a beautiful red dress, her curls all haphazard because of the outburst he had just made her have.  He watched realization dawning on her, the hope that he had seen flickering in then changing to sheer delight. A smile pulling at the corner of her lips, the one she was desperately trying to fight, her eyes giving away everything.

_Love._

She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.

“I’m now going to go to Ray—“ She raised her hand, pointing at the door, moving closer to it.

“Hey!” Oliver stopped her short in a second, closing the distance between the two of them. He knew that it was all to rile him and up and honestly, it was working. He might had been grinning before but no way in hell could he tolerate Palmer and she knew that, oh she knew that.

Felicity let out a humph, crossing her arms, showcasing her anger—scratch that, _trying_ to showcase her anger.

She was failing miserably and it was the most adorable thing he had ever seen.

“That was the worst way you could have said it,” She almost pouted and Oliver’s hands landed on her waist, pulling her a little closer. This didn’t feel weird at all—this felt like finality.

That this was here, and this was them.

“How about I make up for it?” Felicity looked up, the smile she had been fighting since the beginning finally formed on her face, “You think you can?” She tilted her head up.

He grabbed her face, the smile on his face _almost_ blinding as his lips landed on hers. She kissed him back—because really, this is all she had been really waiting for. His soft lips against her, her arms around his waist. Felicity was so done with just being friends, because they weren’t. They were so much more than that.

Which is why it felt so right. Fireworks went off right at that instant, literally and figuratively and Felicity somehow deemed that this year will be the best one. Her eyes were closed and she couldn’t stop smiling—really, what kind of a dork was she? He pulled away for a second before she felt Oliver peck her lips once more.

She felt euphoric.

Opening her eyes, she found him staring at her, “Happy New Year.” He whispered softly and her grin only widened, if that was even possible as she echoed the statement back.

She heard another fire work going of as instinctively, she turned her head to the right, wanting to see it. She was suddenly in a celebratory mood.

Oliver watched her face glow in delight, her eyes showcasing every bit of the happiness she was feeling. He reached up, playing with her hair as he recalled back to everything that brought them here.

He hadn’t planned on her asking him about this, but he had something in store for them. It was weird in a way, how the two of them had always wanted to say something and stopped themselves and now that they want to—

Both of them wanted to say it together.

Except when he came here, he was greeted by a surprise. It had taken him a year, to realize how stupid had he been to deny himself of this. He thought he always knew, but he never thought he was worthy of her.

He still didn’t think so. Nobody could ever be worthy of her but he chose to be selfish for once. For once, he chose to be with her because he was tired.

Because he loved her.

She felt his hand on her cheek and turned her face towards— _boyfriend_ —were they going to label themselves now?—He looked at her with a solemn smile on her face and Felicity let out a deep breathe, tilting her head a little to the side, her cheek pressed against his hand.

He watched as her eyes turned moist as she looked at him sincerity.

Because she knew.

And he was okay with that. Because that’s what they are now, isn’t it?

_Together._

“You know,” Felicity sniffed, “This still doesn’t make up for whole breakdown I had here,” She murmured, pressing the side of her hand against the edge of her eye, trying to stop the tear from escaping.

“Don’t worry I got that covered.” Oliver grinned.

“Wait, what?” Felicity echoed the same question she had done hours ago, Oliver really had managed to do it twice.

“Like you said,” He winked at her, “It’s New Year’s.”

She shook her head in a little disbelief, maybe it was all getting to her again even though she had been _sure_ this was going to happen—she isnt’t called a genius for anything—a laughed bubbled out of her lips as she hugged him, her forehead landing on his chest.

They say how New Year’s is not really a beginning. They also say it doesn’t hurt to think of it as one—because really, what did this event actually signify?

Hope, maybe. People thought of it as a chance at something new. They thought about resolutions—Felicity’s nose wrinkled at that one, she always ended up breaking them, so really there was no point—they thought about goals. Mostly, New Year marked a new beginning.

And seems like Oliver and Felicity had finally found theirs.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! :)


End file.
